Jubilee is a historically
black church in Mattapan, located outside of Boston. The aesthetic of Jubilee
is contemporary and non-traditional. The exterior has the appearance of a
converted car dealership or restaurant. Looking to your right as you enter,
there is a small cafe/bookstore; looking straight is the sanctuary. The cafe
serves Starbucks coffee and sells devotional materials, including videos of
previous sermons. The sanctuary is contemporary with no crosses, images of
Jesus, or other Christian paraphernalia. The sanctuary seating is spacious and
can fit 400 or more people. Jubilee prides itself on being a 'church without
walls,' but other than living a moral life outside of the church, most of the
emphasis was on its own community.
I attended two services at
Jubilee and both services started with amazing praise and worship. The singers
could have easily performed at The House of Blues and the lighting was equally
professional. However, there was too much audience participation to consider it
just a concert; the worship leaders excelled at encouraging the congregation to participate. The best way
to describe the worship is the sociological term 'collective
effervescence'. Collective effervescence, coined by the sociologist Émile Durkheim, describes a situation in
which a group of people experience the same thing at the same time such
that they lose themselves in the process. For Durkheim, the function of this collective
effervescence is to promote unity, and unity was a major theme in both services.
In the first service, after the
worship, there was a brief pause, and the pastor asked us to listen to the
church announcements. These announcements were prepared in a commercialized
form complete with voice over and slide show advertising their various
ministries and services. This was a jarring interruption of the collective
effervescence experienced earlier.
But the emphasis on community
and unity resumed during the call for tithes and offerings. During the
offertory, the majority of the congregation was able to recite the verse:
"give and it shall be given unto you, pressed down, shaken together and
running over," Luke 6:38. This verse was chosen by the Jubilee leadership
and is quite popular among evangelicals when asking for tithes and offerings.
Also, the congregation was encouraged to be cheerful givers, a reference to 2
Corinthians 9:7. Most of the congregants knew the proper (ritualized) words to
say when making their offering. This unison likely encouraged the congregants
to give more money than they would otherwise.
The sermon further encouraged
community by emphasizing responsibility, particularly being responsible about
health issues that disproportionately affect black communities. Remedies
included, not drinking too much soda, not eating too much junk food, and
exercising. The details of the sermon seemed extemporaneous (made up on the
spot) though there was a clear outline. He also encouraged the younger people
to go out and protest the non-indictment decision in the Michael Brown case,
but he wanted them to do so responsibly. For instance, if you have kids (i.e.
more important responsibilities) don't go out and protest, but if not then by all means protest.
After the sermon the
pastor asked all the men ages 16-18 to come to the altar for prayer, then men
aged 19-20, and then men in their 20s, and then 30s, etc... until all the men
were at or near the altar. He then asked all the women, the sisters, wives, and
daughters of these men, to outstretch their hands in support of these men. The
men were supposed to receive power and influence over their life and their
family's life. This emphasis on gender roles is a common theme Jubilee. For instance,
the men's ministry is called Dominion, and Dominion encourages men to exercise
"God given Dominion over himself, his family, his finances, and his sphere
of influence." In contrast, the women's ministry is called Chosen where
women are "selected by God, as instruments, to do his work and to speak
out for him." Men have influence; women are instruments of
influence.
The second sermon I attended
was given by the first pastor's father, also a pastor. This undoubtedly
extemporaneous sermon moralized from the pulpit and often bordered on the
political. The preacher chastised anyone who was having sex out of wedlock,
anyone who supported a woman's right to choose (which he called a 'myth'), and
also chastised those who do not spank their children. This latter part was
probably the bulk of the sermon and even included him taking his belt off and
snapping it a few times in the middle of the sermon. There was also an
anti-intellectual moment, where he stated that he didn't care whether a
marriage counselor went to Harvard (in a condescending tone), but rather how he
lives his life, stating "a man can't teach what he doesn't know." (I
want to make it clear that I mostly agree with his opinion about the need for practical experience in a counseling career. It is only this opinion on which I agree. I also disagree with
the mocking tone in which he conveyed this opinion).
(Normally I conduct interviews
as well, but after repeated attempts I was not able to obtain an interview with
the leadership of Jubilee)
Bottom line:
There were definitely
in-group/out-group barriers in this church. First, both racially and culturally
I am a white male. Second, I am admittedly a liberal. And as a liberal I was
generally appalled by a good portion of the sermons, particularly the second
sermon. That being said I can only write from my perspective. Other than the
music, I can recommend nothing about this church. In particular, I was taken aback
by the political nature of the avowedly pro-life moment in the second sermon
and how the congregation encouraged the pastor with amens and other forms of
vocal support. Also, the emphasis on separate gender roles made me cringe. But
any good critic should take a moment and think about their own reaction to what
they have experienced.
I admittedly come from a
particular perspective; a perspective that makes it difficult to engage with
people who are this different from myself. A perspective which, admittedly
values the individual over the community. For instance, it is hard for me to
understand the moral code that expects men and women to fulfill different
roles. I can only maintain that my position is the moral one, but I must
acknowledge that when I enter Jubilee I leave the moral world that I am
comfortable with and enter a different moral world, one that is necessary to
engage with in 21st century America. Even after much thinking, I am still
unsure of how best I can engage these people and their moral world.
No comments:
Post a Comment